Because I was so busy updating my blog last week, I didn’t read a single chapter of The Fellowship of the Ring. I decided to read one chapter while I took a bath before I put it (or keep it) on the back burner so I can reread The Hunger Games and Catching Fire in preparation for Mockingjay‘s release next week. As I was reading this chapter, I came across something in one of the many songs throughout the book. The song sung by Frodo at The Prancing Pony sounds eerily familiar to a beloved children’s nursery rhyme.
So the cat on his fiddle played hey-diddle-diddle,
… the cow jumped over the Moon,
And the little dog laughed to see such fun,
And the Saturday dish went off at a run
with the silver Sunday spoon.
This brings up a few questions. Did Tolkien plagiarize “Hey Diddle Diddle”? Or, did he actually write the nursery rhyme? Or, is it okay to use something as long as you change it? Or, is it okay to use a nursery rhyme because no one really knows who created them? Are nursery rhymes under the jurisdiction of creative commons/public domain? According to Wikipedia, JRR Tolkien satirized the rhyme.
I’m not condemning Tolkien in the least. I was just a little shocked to see such an obvious reference in The Lord of the Rings of all places.
That’s funny. I guess I never thought of it as plagiarizing because it’s so common everyone knows it wasn’t written by him…but he played it off as his own..You always have topics that make me think.
I’m pretty sure he didn’t plagiarize, but like you said, it makes you think what is considered plagiarism and what’s not. Or, at the same time, it makes me look stupid for posing these questions if the answer are obvious. :?
There is something like intertextuality, referring in literature to other literary texts. Anyway, Middle-earth is supposed to be our own world at some time in the past. We are living in the fourth era; Lord of the rings is in the third era. The nursery rhyme we know in the fourth era, is what is left of an old hobbit poem from the third era. It’s a link between today and the world of the past as described by Tolkien. Described is not the right word: Tolkien presents his book as a translation of the memories written by Bilbo, Frodo and Sam. This is also a literary technique.
Johan – Thanks for that explanation. I really appreciate it! That makes complete sense.
Wow. Well, I have nothing to say that is nearly as profound as what Johan wrote (loved that explanation!), but in MHO, Tolkien was merely using a poem known far and wide, similar to an author having one of her/his characters sing “Happy Birthday” in a scene.
Speaking of plagiarism, I’m certainly not suggesting that J.K. Rowling plagiarized Tolkien, but if you analyze both authors’ series, there are an uncanny number of similarities in their work. Tons.
Deon – I’ve never thought about the the similarities between Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings. I guess probably because I don’t really know The Lord of the Rings. I’ll have to keep that in mind as I finish this series.
There are several rumours about J.K. Rowling having ‘borrowed’ material here and there. I suppose she has a good talent to synthesize a lot of fantasyworks into a new work. Malory’s Morte d’Arthur was also a reworking of several Arthur stories, and cervantes’ Don Quichote was a humorous pastiche of noble knight romances. Centuries later a lot of their examples have been forgotten en their works are seen as masterworks. If anyone can prove that JK Rowling was plagiarizing other writers, you can be sure it will be done. I am sure that Rowling learned a lot from A wizard of Earthsea by Ursula LeGuin.
Johan – I have heard many of those rumors. Unfortunately, I haven’t read enough books to know if they have any basis. I’m sure, like you said, people will keep trying to prove it. My husband tells me that, at this stage in the game, there’s not original thought. There’s always inspiration for ideas, which is just fine. It’s just whether or not you take someone’s work, leave it the way it is, and pass it off as your own that’s wrong. My guess is that JK Rowling was inspired by many different things, but her inspiration for the Harry Potter books are all her own. That’s my hope, anyway. ;)